BAD IDEA

10.21.13

Breast Milk Bought Online Tainted

Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

Nearly 75 percent of the breast milk sold online at OnlyTheBreast.com is tainted with high-level bacteria, according to a study released Sunday. “I can’t think of something you can buy online where you have less ability to validate the quality,” said Sarah A. Keim, a researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “Even frozen milk was as contaminated as thawed milk.” As many as 13,000 people—many who were new moms who couldn’t produce their own milk but wanted the benefit of breast milk—posted on one of the top four sites for brokering milk deals in 2011. OnlyTheBreast.com said in a statement that they are working to create a new milk bank program, but the founder of another site, MilkShare, called the study “a blatant attack on women attempting to feed their babies … breast milk is supposed to contain bacteria.”